1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an articulated low-floor train to provide barrier-free access to the passenger floor, and in particular, relates to an articulated train that provides a low-floor section(s) by utilizing existing high-floor articulated trains.
2. Description of the Related Art
An articulated train, for example, as shown in FIG. 5 is conventionally known to us as a tramcar. This articulated train consists of a front running Vehicle A and a rear running Vehicle B that are articulated by means of a carriage (3). For Vehicle A, a carriage (1) is provided only in the front half section, on the driving cab (4) side, and for Vehicle B, a carriage (2) is provided in the rear half section, on the driving cab (5) side. Thus, Vehicle A and Vehicle B maintain their vehicle bodies horizontally by means of the carriage (3), which is located at the articulation section. In other words, two vehicle bodies balance the entire train horizontally by retaining a form of an articulated train unit. The carriages (1) and (2) located under the front half section of Vehicle A and the rear half section of Vehicle B, respectively, use a motorized two-axle power carriage and the carriage (3) located between Vehicle A and Vehicle B uses an un-motorized idling (auxiliary) carriage (or trailer bogie).
However, the above-mentioned conventional articulated trains are of a high-floor type, having a floor level two or three steps higher than the bottom of the side entrance. Such trains are, therefore, not suitable for users of wheel chairs and baby buggies and physically handicapped people to board and detrain the train.
Hence, a low-floor train has been proposed to facilitate boarding and detraining for those people so that they can directly board from and detrain onto the platform that is constructed on the road surface without climbing up or down the entrance steps. However, conventional low-floor trains require a specific carriage or vehicle body to achieve a low-floor section.
The main purpose of this invention is, in light of the above-mentioned situation, to provide an articulated train that provides barrier-free access to the low-floor section while utilizing existing vehicle bodies and carriages and their articulation structure as much as possible.
In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the articulated train that has a low-floor section according to the present invention is characterized by a low-floor intermediate vehicle located between two high-floor vehicle bodies and the said intermediate vehicle and the said high-floor vehicles bodies being articulated by means of a carriage, respectively.
Further, the articulated train that has a low-floor section according to the present invention is characterized in, in addition to the above-mentioned structure, that it is applied to existing articulated trains that consists of two high-floor vehicle bodies, front and rear running, articulated by means of a carriage, where a low-floor intermediate vehicle is inserted between the said two high-floor vehicle bodies, front and rear running, and in addition, the intermediate vehicle and each of the front and rear running vehicle bodies are articulated by means of a carriage, on each of which the said high-floor vehicle body is placed, the carriage located on the driving cab side being a motorized power carriage while the carriage located between the intermediate vehicle and each of the front and rear running vehicle bodies being an un-motorized idling carriage.
And then, in addition to the above-mentioned structure, it is preferably an articulated train having a low-floor section, which is characterized in that the underframe structure of the rear half section of the existing front running vehicle body is adopted in the rear half section of the underframe of the intermediate vehicle and the underframe structure of the front half section of the existing rear running vehicle body is adopted in the front half section of the underframe of the intermediate vehicle.
In addition to the above-mentioned structure, it is more preferably an articulated train having a low-floor section, which is characterized in that the distance between the carriages that are furnished at both ends of the intermediate vehicle is the same dimensions as the distance between the adjacent carriages of the existing articulated train, and accordingly, the intermediate vehicle is positioned between the existing front and rear running vehicle bodies with all distances between the adjacent carriages being the same dimensions.
Further, the present invention provides a low-floor intermediate vehicle to be inserted between the existing high-floor vehicle bodies in order to structure an articulated train having a low-floor section as characterized by any of the above-mentioned features.
Or otherwise, the present invention provides an intermediate vehicle to be inserted between vehicle bodies of the existing articulated train consisting of two high-floor vehicle bodies, front and rear running, articulated by means of a carriage, where the said intermediate vehicle is characterized in that it is made into a low-floor vehicle body, and is to be articulated with the existing vehicle bodies by means of an un-motorized idling carriage, where the underframe structure of the rear half section of the existing front running vehicle body is adopted in the rear half section of the underframe of the intermediate vehicle and the underframe structure of the front half section of the existing rear running vehicle body is adopted in the front half section of the underframe of the intermediate vehicle.
Further, the intermediate vehicle used for the articulated train having a low-floor section according to the present invention is interjacent between vehicle bodies of the existing high-floor articulated train, where both ends of the train on the driving cab sides are located on a motorized power carriage while each vehicle body is articulated with another vehicle body by an un-motorized idling carriage, and this intermediate vehicle is characterized in that it is made into a low-floor vehicle body, and an idling carriage to articulate it with the said existing vehicle body is furnished at both ends of the vehicle body, respectively, fore and back, of the intermediate vehicle, and each idling carriage has a bearing, having three bearing rings (races), located horizontally, where the intermediate ring is positioned between the internal ring and the external ring so that this bearing provides a ball bearing between the internal ring and the intermediate ring, and provides another ball bearing between the intermediate ring and the external ring, where the intermediate ring is fixed to the idling carriage, and the bearing of the idling carriage furnished at the one end of the intermediate vehicle has its external ring fixed to the underframe of the existing vehicle body while the internal ring is fixed to the underframe of the intermediate vehicle in such a manner that it can rotate around the shaft laid across the diameter, and the bearing of the idling carriage furnished at the other end of the intermediate vehicle has its external ring fixed to the underframe of the intermediate vehicle while the internal ring is fixed to the underframe of the existing vehicle body in such a manner that it can rotate around the shaft laid across the diameter.
With the articulated train having a low-floor section according to the present invention, it is possible to achieve an articulated train that provides barrier-free access to the low-floor section while utilizing existing vehicle bodies as well as carriages and articulation structures as much as possible.